LAUREL, Md. - United Kingdom defense contractor QinetiQ is developing dense metal penetrator (DMP) warheads that could more than double penetration performance over conventional warheads, according to QinetiQ researcher Cathy O'Carroll.
New rules aimed at increasing interoperability in the U.S. military are nearing completion, an official said Oct. 15. The Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Instruction (CJCSI) 6212 could be approved as early as November and will complement other Defense Department documents that already have been written to improve the ability of the military services to exchange information, said Navy Rear Adm. Nancy Brown, vice director for command, control, communications and computer systems for the Joint Staff.
Raytheon Co. said it is working with Israel Aircraft Industries' Elta Systems in pursuit of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's program to equip commercial airliners with missile protection systems. Raytheon announced the joint effort as DHS officials were briefing industry representatives in Washington on the $100 million development program to defeat shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, also known as man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS). DHS plans an "aggressive" system development and demonstration program (DAILY, Sept. 23).
Becoming interoperable with coalition allies will require more than fielding new communications technology, a U.S. Army official said Oct. 15. "I see us doing things from a technical side which are trying to solve problems that are policy related," said Maj. Gen. Emile Bataille, director of Combat Support for the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM).
MOSCOW - Russia plans to build two "universal" launch sites at the Plesetsk and Svobodnyi cosmodromes, which would be able to handle both Angara and Rus boosters, government officials said after a meeting about the country's space launch plans.
LAUREL, Md. - The Universal Armament Interface (UAI) initiative is developing common technical standards and engineering approaches that will allow precision weapons to be integrated onto aircraft more quickly and at lower cost, according to Steve Butler, director of the Acquisition Support Directorate at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.
The U.S. Air Force announced Oct. 15 that the 27th Fighter Squadron at Langley Air Force Base, Va., will be the first deployable unit to fly the new F/A-22 Raptor. Col. Frank Gorenc, commander of the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley, said in a statement that the 27th, also known as the Fightin' Eagles, was chosen because of its "impressive combat record" and its "heritage." The unit, the Air Force's oldest fighter squadron, was the first to fly the P-38 Lightning for the Army Air Force in 1941 and the first operational unit to fly the F-15 Eagle.
Launch of China's first manned spacecraft on Oct. 15 is expected to be followed in about six months by another manned mission, this one with a crew of at least two, one analyst said. Charles P. Vick of GlobalSecurity.org said China's manned space program has been funded at $2.2-2.3 billion since about 1993, and that the money will pay for the first docking of two manned Shenzou spacecraft, probably in late 2005.
Orbital Sciences Corp. has joined the Lockheed Martin-Northrop Grumman team to compete for the contract to design and build NASA's Orbital Space Plane (OSP), company officials said Oct. 14. Orbital had been negotiating with both the Lockheed Martin team and the team led by the Boeing Co. (DAILY, Oct. 1). Northrop Grumman, which at one time led a team of its own, officially joined the Lockheed Martin team in early October. Orbital Sciences had been a member of the Northrop Grumman team.
LAUREL, Md. - The Navy hopes to begin developing a hypersonic strike missile in fiscal year 2004 or 2005 as an Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD), after failing to get a similar initiative approved for FY '03. "I don't think we need it next week, but we need to get moving," Rear Adm. John Chenevey, the Navy's program executive officer for strike weapons and unmanned aviation, told The DAILY at the Precision Strike Association's 2003 Technology Symposium here Oct. 14. "The technology is there. We just need to go fund it."
Pratt & Whitney has begun testing the first production-configuration F135 engine for the Defense Department's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The engine, designated the FX631, successfully ran for the first time at 1:53 p.m. on Oct. 11 at Pratt & Whitney facilities in West Palm Beach, Fla., company spokesman Dave Morgillo told The DAILY Oct. 14. The engine, which is mounted on a test stand, now has run for a total of two hours. Testing data show the engine "performed as expected," Pratt & Whitney said in a statement.
A new study of the use and coverage of satellite transponders shows that the trend toward Ku-band and away from C-band is continuing. Between 2000 and 2003, it says, the number of Ku-band transponders grew by 20 percent, or 642, while the number of C-band transponders was up only 9 percent, or 260. The study, by Futron Corp., a technology management consulting firm based in Bethesda, Md., also says:
RADIATION PROTECTION: NASA commissioned the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) Oct. 14 at the Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, N.Y. The laboratory, built in cooperation between the agencies, will simulate the harsh space radiation environment to help NASA biologists and physicists ensure the safety of spacecraft crews.
EUROCOPTER BUY: Mexico's navy has bought two Eurocopter Panther helicopters and taken options for eight more, Eurocopter said Oct. 13. The helicopters will be operated from boats for coastal patrols, surveillance, search and rescue, anti-drug operations and troop transport, the company said. The Panthers will be delivered in 2005 and each will be equipped with two Turbomeca Arriel 2C turbo engines.
Langley Air Force Base, Va., plans to announce later this week which of its fighter squadrons will be the first deployable unit in the Air Force to fly the F/A-22 Raptor. Three squadrons in Langley's 1st Fighter Wing are in the running - the 27th, 71st and 94th. The winning squadron is scheduled to get its first Lockheed Martin F/A-22 in November 2004 and achieve an initial operational capability (IOC) with 24 planes by December 2005.
Completing work on the International Space Station will cost more and take longer due to the shuttle fleet's grounding, according to a General Accounting Office report. Cost increases could arise from the need to maintain and store ready-to-launch components built before the Columbia disaster in February, as well as the need to re-certify some components and extend some space station construction contracts, according to the report.
NEW DELHI - Pakistan test-fired its third nuclear-capable missile in 11 days on Oct. 13, launching a Shaheen-1 medium-range missile, which is also known as the Hatf-IV. A Shaheen-1 also was tested last week, shortly after Pakistan tested a short-range Ghaznavi missile (DAILY, Oct. 10). "The test concludes, for now, the series of planned tests," a Pakistani diplomat said here. He said a longer-range version of the Hatf missile series will be tested in the future.
